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The Visitor
The VisitorDick Sittig: Out of the Box. Directors Guild of America. is an award-winning 1997 Jack in the Box commercialClowning Around. Adweek. spoofing the TV show'' Cops'' . Synopsis At night, Jack Box arrives at a house and knocks on the front door, asking for a "Mr. Brad Haley." The cameraman pans up to the house number - 696 - and pans back down as Jack knocks a second time. Haley opens the door and angrily tells the visitor to relax. Upon seeing the camera, he asks "Did I win something...?" Jack informs him that, according to his sources, he's been disparaging Jack in the Box by calling it "Junk in the Box." Haley is unapologetic and asks "So?" Jack replies that he takes such matters "personally." Haley becomes incensed and tells Jack to "get lost" and attempts to slam the door on him, but Jack pushes the door back open and says he'll leave if Haley simply tries his food and apologizes. An unseen assistant attempts to hand him a bag of Jack in the Box food. Haley shoves Jack, yelling "I said beat it, clown!" and retreats into his house. Jack follows him inside, and angrily insists his employees have been "working their buns off" improving their food. Haley accosts Jack and runs out an open sliding glass door. After a brief chase, Jack tackles him to the ground as two neighbors (whose faces have been censored) cheer him on from behind a chain link fence. With Haley pinned to the ground, Jack twists his arm and forces him to drink a milkshake, which Haley says is "very yummy." Jack then forces him to try a fry and asks "Better than Mac's, right?" Haley agrees. Finally, Jack feeds him a burger and asks him to give his honest opnion. Haley replies "Tasty!" Jack asks him "You're not just saying that because I can snap your arm like a twig?" Haley denies any distress and apologizes for dissing his food. The Jack in the Box logo appears over a black background as the dialogue continues. A seemingly chastened Jack says he's sorry about the grass stains, but immediately takes it back when pressed. Behind the scenes *Dick Sittig calls The Visitor his favorite Jack in the Box spot. He recalled the commercial fondly in a Spring 2007 interview: "Anytime you can have your company mascot go to someone's house and beat the crap out of them, you know you're not copying McDonald's."Dick Sittig: Out of the Box. Directors Guild of America. *According to Sittig, it took him two years to obtain the necessary approvals needed to produce the commercial. *Due to the mature tone of the commercial, it only aired after 10 p.m. *The commercial won a Gold Lion at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes in 1998.Encyclopedia.com *Brad Haley was the name of Jack in the Box's vice president of marketing communications at the time. Notes *The commercial is filmed in a gritty, cinéma vérité style, possibly a first for a fast food commercial. *The derogatory nickname "Junk in the Box" seems to be a cleaner version of the more common "Jack in the Crack." *The actor portraying Brad, Courtney Gains, is best known as Malachai Boardman in the 1984 movie Children of the Corn. References Category:Commercials Category:Jack Box Universe